This is what happens when you get too much short extensor tone and/or strength in the digits of the foot. Now this is his trailing foot and he has moved into toe off so he should be activating his toe extensors and the tibialis anterior (ie. the anterior compartment) to create clearance for that foot so that he doesn’t catch the toes on the swing through phase of gait. In this case we do not see alot of ankle dorsiflexion (which we should see at this point) so we are seeing a compensation of perhaps increased short extensor (of the toes) activity.

We also see what appears to be a drifting of the big toe (the hallux) underneath the 2nd toe. This often happens when a bunion or hallux valgus is present. Now we do not see a bunion present here but the viewing angle is not optimal however it does appear that there is a slight drift of the hallux big toe towards the lesser toes . We are not sure if we would qualify this as hallux valgus, and if so it is mild, but none the less we see a slight lateral drift. What is interesting is that despite the obvious activity of the lesser toes short extensor muscle (EDB) we do not see a simultaneous activity of the short extensor of the hallux (EHB, extensor hallucis brevis). Does he need to do our exercise ? See video link here !

And so, when the lesser toes are in extension as we see here and the big toe is not moving into extension, and when that is simultaneously combined with even a little hallux valgus tendency, the big toe will drift underneath the lesser toes as we see here, even appearing to push the 2nd toe further into extension.

As for his little toe, well, Dr. Allen has one just like it so perhaps he missed his calling in the NBA. Some folks just do not have as plantarward orientation of the 5th toe and so it migrates upward (dorsally) a little. This can be from birth but it can also come from trauma. But in time because the toe is not more plantar oriented, the dorsal muscles (the extensors) become more dominant and the toe just starts to take on this kind of appearance and orientation. It will reduce significantly when the foot is on the ground and the extensors are turned off, but it looks more shocking during the swing phase because of the extensor dominance in that phase.

This kind of presentation if left unchecked can lead to hammer toes, plantar fat pad migration distally exposing the metatarsal heads to more plantar forces without protection and a host of other problems. Lebron needs to do our Shuffle Walk Exercise to get more ankle rocker (dorsiflexion) and also work to increase his long toe extensors (EDL) and lumbricals. This will flatten his toes and improve mechanical leverage. Remember, if you gait better foot function with increased ankle dorsiflexion you will get more hip extension and more glute function. But does the big fella really need to jump any higher? We are sure he would accept being faster though … . who wouldn’t ?

Fee for today’s long distance consult: … Lebron, lets say 10,000$ and we will call it even. Sound good ? But a lifetime of prettier, stronger and more functional toes……priceless. Have your people contact our people. (Ok, we don’t have people, but we do have an email address here on our blog !).

Shawn and Ivo, The Gait Guys. Even helping the elite, little by little.